Vera Michalski: “The dialogue with Russia will take place through literature”

A figure and godmother of the Parisian literary world – she notably directed Le Bief from 2013 to 2020 – Vera Michalski made her debut in Switzerland. With her husband, the Polish editor and journalist Jan Michalski, she created the Noir sur Blanc editions there in 1986 to introduce French-speaking readers to Slavic writers. They launched the “Libretto” pocket collection in 1998, then the house diversified in 2013, with the more experimental label Notabilia: Maya Angelou, Fatima Daas, Gaëlle Jossewhose next novel will be published in January by Buchet-Chastel. Acquired in 2001, this house is originally that ofHenry Millerof Lawrence Durrell or from Malcolm Lowry. Or recently Marie-Hélène LafonRenaudot Prize 2020 with Son’s story.

In 2000, they set up the Libella group, which Phébus, a French novel publisher, joined in 2000 (Daniel Arsandwho was also an editor there) and foreigner (Joseph O’Connor) as well as travel stories (Sylvain Tesson). Then Delpire & Co, a reference in photography books in 2012, or even Les Cahiers Dessinés by Frédéric Tax.

In 1991, the house took over the Polish bookstore on Boulevard Saint-Germain in Paris, the epicenter of the Un weekend à l’Est festival every fall. She also owns the Polish house Oficyna Literacka Noir sur Blanc in Warsaw (publisher in particular of Paul Auster or Umberto Eco in Poland) in 1987 and bought in 2003 from the Polish State Wydawnictwo Literackie in Krakow: Witold Gombrowicz et Olga Tokarczukthe Polish Nobel Prize winner published by Noir sur Blanc in France.

Publisher but also patron, Vera Michalski grew up in the Camargue, in a nature reserve created by her father, Luc Hoffmann, one of the founders of the WWF. His group owns the Palais bookstore in Arles, which notably runs an alternative fair during the Rencontres de la Photographie and publishes photo books. When her husband died in 2002, at age 49, she launched the Jan Michalski Foundation in Montricher in the canton of Vaud in 2007. There she welcomes writers, offers scholarships and supports publishing projects, and awards a literary prize each year, endowed with 50,000 Swiss francs.

Livres Hebdo: Comment va Libella?

Vera Michalski: In this return, Masao’s boat d’Antoine Choplin at Buchet-Chastel was selected among the finalists for the Femina Prize and the Renaudot Prize. The big game d’Elena Tchikhova published by Noir sur Blanc won the prize Defectorwhich is an opportunity to remind you that we are among the few to still publish Russian literature. Furthermore, we changed the group’s graphic charter and modernized the logo. We maintain our original character, different houses from each other, with our signature: “Libella, independent publishing houses”. We value this notion of independence very much.

2024 was marked by the arrival of new editors in the group…

Indeed, Libella is getting stronger. At Phoebus, Florence Barrauin charge of foreign literature for several months, notably published at the start of the school year The color black does not exist, from Italian Greta Olivo which received the prize for First Foreign Novel. Marie Eugene arrived to take care of the French domain. Its first return will be in January 2025 with novels like that of Claire Hazan, Lives and survivals of Elisabeth Halpern or the book of The Great Sophie from his show Every day, Suzanne.

At Buchet-Chastel, Clara Dupont-Monod joined us in order to provide impactful documents, broaden our scope, and strengthen the Essays & Documents division alongside Laurent Laffont (who for example published A world without children of David Duhamel). We can be of quality and seize social phenomena and new angles. There is room for very serious works and more eye-catching approaches. We are changing, but the fundamentals linked to quality, curiosity and editorial standards remain. And each house retains its full editorial autonomy.

Your group was formed around the Noir sur Blanc editions, which specialized in Eastern European literature. How can we continue to bring these cultures into dialogue when the war in Ukraine pits them against each other?

Noir sur Blanc, a historic channel if I may say so, began in 1986 to explore the lands of Eastern Europe, and especially Polish and Russian literature. I go to Poland several times a year, because of our homes there, and there is a total boycott of Russia. On national TV, we cannot talk about any book with a Russian theme or author. They don’t even play Tchaikovsky on the radio anymore. We have just published in Poland the memoirs ofAlexei Navalnyand the first reflex of the local team was cautious.

“What fascinates me is contact with authors and, as far as Libella is concerned, I am completely an editor”

But now the book is selling. Noir sur Blanc was the first French publisher to publish Ukrainian authors, well before the war. We also bought the rights to the book that Serhiy Jadan just wrote while he was on the front and we’re going out soon Our daily war, the second volume of Diary of an invasion d’Andreï Kourkov. We continue to publish Russian literature because once the war is over, the dialogue between Russia and the rest of the world will also have to be through literature.

You also have a pocket collection with “Libretto”. Is this relevant for a group the size of yours?

The relevance is obvious: houses smaller than ours also have their collection. Our pocket collection has seen some great transformations of books that already had visibility. Zouleikha opens her eyes of Gouzel Iakhina sold more than 30,000 copies and after Children of the Volga, we are getting ready to go out in pocket Convoy to Samarkand, which closes the trilogy of this Russian writer living in Kazakhstan. Ante TomicCroatian author particularly appreciated by booksellers at the time of confinement with Miracle at the Combe aux Aspics, sold almost as many and he toured booksellers at the start of the school year to present his new novel The children of Saint Margueritereleased by Noir sur Blanc in parallel with the release by “Libretto” of What is a man without a mustache? For “Libretto”, as for all our houses, we are developing digital marketing and we have our own distribution since we have six representatives, which allows us to support authors over the long term.

You are also the head of several bookstores. How are these professions complementary?

In the group, we have three bookstores. In Paris, in the VI^e arrondissement, the Polish Bookstore, which has existed since 1833, and the Delpire bookstore-gallery, linked to Delpire & co editions, specializing in photography, which offers an original choice of books. In Arles, we took over the Palais bookstore, also specializing in photography. It adjoins what was, at the time of Louis XIV, one of the first bookstores in France where the activity of risography, an ecological printing technique, was practiced. Every summer she runs a small alternative salon during the Rencontres de la Photographie. The photo book business is incredibly rich and imaginative, many passionate publishers and small houses do internationally recognized work. The book is a gateway to photography for a wider audience.

Do you consider yourself more of a patron or an editor?

What fascinates me is the contact with the authors and, as far as Libella is concerned, I am completely an editor. We are members of the Creative Bookstore Development Association (ADELC). I chaired the Bief for seven years and I am a member of the SNE office. Furthermore, I have a completely different activity with the Jan Michalski Foundation for Writing and Literature in Switzerland. We organize meetings, festivals, musical readings, exhibitions. We welcome authors but also translators in residence. Between 45 and 50 people per year, in eight hanging cabins. This year we received 2,200 applications. Here too, meeting and bringing together authors is our common thread.